Genuinely funny and genuinely romantic, Bernard Slade’s 1975 play Same Time Next Year, ran four years on Broadway playing 1463 performances. It was nominated for three Tony awards: Best Play, Best Direction and Outstanding Performance by an Actress, winning the Tony for lead actress Ellen Burstyn, who later recreated her role in the successful motion picture. Almost fifty years later, it remains one of the world’s most widely produced plays. On February 5, 6 and 7, at the South Padre Island Convention Center, the El Paseo Arts Players presents this much-loved romantic comedy.
The play tells the story of a couple who, though they’re happily married to others, meet once a year for a romantic tryst at an inn Northern California. The hotel room stays the same, but the years rush by; and we follow the lovers through the ups and downs in their lives. There are six scenes, each five years apart. We see them gradually grow older, passing from the 25 year olds we first meet in Scene 1 to 50 year olds in the final Scene. And as the story unfolds, we watch as twenty five years of changing manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out in the couple’s changing lives and relationship.
The play demands a lot of the two actors, and Sylvia Lester and Peter Smith perform with the grace, depth of understanding, finesse and timing necessary to make their characters, Doris and George, come to life in a totally believable way. They are talented, experienced performers able to play an enormous range of emotions, sometimes requiring dramatic pathos, sometimes perfect comic timing.
Director JoAnn Evans helps the audience navigate the tumultuous years of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s with slide show between each scene, highlighting some the social, political and cultural changes.
Stage manager Bea Johnson and her crew, Annie Wooters, Stephanie Wilson, Carol Rausch, and Keiko Tomita skillfully and efficiently manage the set changes and assist with all the costume changes. Barbi Teater coordinates costumes and created one of her trademark originals; and Elaine English helped collect the many props used for breakfast, coffee, cake, scotch, and champagne celebrations.
Shawn Evans designed the set for the lovely hotel room where the lovers meet, and he built the six foot high window with window seat that provides a creative, escape route. Brian Kohl and his crew, including Mark Haggenmiller, Greg Lockwood, Danny Dollar, and Dave Boughter will build the large set in the one day that the group has to move into the theater and get ready for opening night. In the booth, Connie Munoz runs the sound, Mark Haggenmiller runs the lights and Kreig Kohl manages the slide shows.
The Lobby open at 6:30 p.m. with a cash bar provided by the SPI Wine Bar. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the show are $25 per person, $20 per person for El Paseo Arts members. Tickets are available for purchase at SOS, The SPI Art Incubator, The Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square and online at www.elpaseoarts.org.
It’s a very big show with a very small but powerful cast. The New York Times called Same Time Next Year “an old fashioned, well-made play that is well made in a new way for new times …”. It has wit, compassion, a sense of humor and a feel for nostalgia.” Don’t miss it.
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